Phil_Dicko
Active Member
Hi there,
I've not posted on this forum for a long long while, so bear with me.
For those of you who don't remember me, I'm from the Wirral (near Liverpool/Chester), amateur DJ, blogger, podcaster, dance music nut, etc. etc. etc. I'll go clubbing to pretty much anything within reason, I consider myself to have quite a broad taste, but my first love is trance.
I posted here a fair bit in the run up to my 2nd visit to Ibiza in 2009. For reasons I'll explain, I had no inclination to come back here after that holiday. I had plans to come back to this forum and triumphantly review my experiences. But I couldn't even bring myself to look at the main website. I have since been back to the island and had the kind of holiday befitting of the insane hype and build up we clubbers give it.
And just over a month ago I put the deposit down on a 16 person villa in Jesus, just outside Ibiza Town, for August of this year. Casually browsing and seeing that there are quite a few changes to the clubbing schedule afoot, I felt compelled to post again. My thinking is, if I can combine the people and the villa experience of 2011 with the extent to which I was clued up about goings-on on the island in 2009, I'll be onto a big winner. (As you'll see, being clued up in 2009 didn't really help in any way.) When it comes to dance music, most people here seem to know their onions and there are always interesting debates to be had in the run up to a busy season.
Apologies if I ramble on a bit here. This is essentially two vastly differing Ibiza experiences condensed as much as I can manage. Hopefully it provides food for thought for any Ibiza newbies.
------------------------------
2009
The reason I didn't come back to review my 2009 holiday was simply because it didn't quite go to plan and as a result I was very very deflated afterwards. There were 2 main problems. Firstly the core group of people I went with in 2009 were after a very different holiday experience to the one I wanted. I was the only real dance music nut in the group of 7 lads. They were a group of lads specifically after a 'lads holiday' and perfectly happy to stay cocooned in San Antonio.
We returned to the same hotel we had used in 2005 - Hotel Pacific - which to be fair is a straight up, bog standard San Antonio hotel. From the stories I've heard, you could do a lot worse. But when you're with a group of non-clubbing, British males in the centre of San Antonio, the sense of being trapped there while better things go on elsewhere is palpable.
A story I often tell to people is the one where on a Wednesday evening we all had tickets for the Es Paradis water party (a night I already viewed as being a massive compromise on the better nights I would rather have gone to), yet on our way over to the club half the group decided to give up their tickets to return to the Flares on the West End. I sh*t you not!!
The clubbing side of things wasn't a complete disaster. To be fair, Tiesto at Privilege that year was one of my greatest ever clubbing experiences. It was made by the fact that Tiesto was on for so long (maybe about 5 hours) that by the time he hit the last 2 hours he was cranking out some of his best Ibiza trance classics. Tiesto was already switching to house and electro at this point, so to hear the 'old Tiesto' for maybe the last time, particularly in that setting, blew me away. I'm not even as big a fan of the 'old Tiesto' as most trance fans, but something about that was a bit magical.
The other problem with this holiday was probably exacerbated by the 'lads holiday' environment. I already had a slight sore throat on the plane but a combination of poor diet, a crowded hotel and having the air conditioning on constantly meant that by the time Tiesto had been and gone (2 days in) I was feeling rough. By the time Thursday came (night of PvD at Cream Amnesia) I was shaking like a leaf and as sick as a dog. After the insane build up of 8 months this just wasn't what I'd had in mind.
The problem was - after going in 2005 as an 18 year old - I was simply desperate to go back. I was ready to go with anyone. When a group materialized, it didn't matter who I was going with. But when you're one mad dance music fan sharing a living space with people who are quite happy with a skinful of cheap ale and a couple of trips to Es Paradis, it's impossible to seek out the 'real Ibiza'.
There was one night where I went off with one other friend and did my own thing - catching Armin's Armada at Amnesia. But once the pain of illness kicked in, it was too late. The hope of having a holiday that would satisfy my wildly romanticised view of the island just disintegrated. I knew this was mainly my own fault too. I'd wasted time, money and enthusiasm on a trip that was doomed from the moment the plane hit the tarmac. Lesson to all people planning an Ibiza holiday; Know what you want out of the experience, and if you have to compromise too much, question how worthwhile the trip will be.
2011
I said it in my podcast blog when I returned from Ibiza in 2011 - I had so much unfinished business with regards this island when it came to organizing the next trip. But this time, being the Ibiza veteran compared to the people I was going with, I was given free reign to shape the holiday.
I wanted a villa and I didn't want to be living in the middle of San Antonio. And that is exactly what I got. Being in the more remote resort of Port Des Torrent just outside San Antonio, there was still an element of compromise in the sense that San An would have to be our 'starting a night out' base. But you could see straight away that being at arm's length from San An's madness would be good for the sanity. We weren't cocooned anymore.
Our villa was amazing. Large, spacious, furnished beautifully, our own pool, HDD full of films, and quiet too. All for not really that much more than the 400 plus we paid in 2009. I thought to myself, what the feck were we doing at the Hotel Pacific when we could have had this? You pay a bit more in terms of getting around in taxis but it's worth it just to not have to share a pool with a group of fat, tattooed 30 somethings who have not stopped drinking since they pitched up in the departure lounge.
But it was the group that made it - a group made up up largely of my old clubbing mates from Uni and their circle of friends (now my friends also) from London, a group of girls and boys, some of them couples, a mix of nationalities, and most of them trance fans, 12 people altogether. This wasn't a lads holiday anymore. It wasn't even a British holiday.
The trip wasn't without its complications. Before we arrived our group was already 2 people light. One friend became very ill before we flew out, a Sri Lankan friend was refused a visa. I did think the Ibiza curse had struck again.
But once we were there, this was a whole different level of holiday. Lazy days by our own pool - BBQs every night - Armin, Marcus Schulz and Gareth Emery smashing up Space (shockingly only my first visit to Space in 3 trips to Ibiza) - Above & Beyond at Amnesia - meeting Tony McGuinness at the Group Therapy boat party (there were only 80 tickets)...
When we returned, the vast majority of the group instantly said 'get me back there next year!' For 2012, we have a group of 15, with room for 1 more. For the first time, based in Jesus, it will be San An that is a trek across the island. All the parts of the island I most want to explore are opening up to us. So as not to jinx the whole thing, I have no intention of creating wild expectations based on last year - I'm only trying to set things up in a way that acknowledges what worked last time and get us that little bit closer to what I think we need to see.
------------------------------
After all that... So, does anyone here have any opinions of Jesus as a town? Is getting into Ibiza Town relatively easy from there?
Port Des Torrent was a pretty basic little place but at least it was quiet and had some nice little beaches and enclaves. And we could get a taxi pretty easily from the restaurant before the supermarket.
And a friend of mine is hiring a car and she's big into exploring the little beaches and beauty spots. Is there anywhere we should 100% definitely day trip to?
I've not posted on this forum for a long long while, so bear with me.
For those of you who don't remember me, I'm from the Wirral (near Liverpool/Chester), amateur DJ, blogger, podcaster, dance music nut, etc. etc. etc. I'll go clubbing to pretty much anything within reason, I consider myself to have quite a broad taste, but my first love is trance.
I posted here a fair bit in the run up to my 2nd visit to Ibiza in 2009. For reasons I'll explain, I had no inclination to come back here after that holiday. I had plans to come back to this forum and triumphantly review my experiences. But I couldn't even bring myself to look at the main website. I have since been back to the island and had the kind of holiday befitting of the insane hype and build up we clubbers give it.
And just over a month ago I put the deposit down on a 16 person villa in Jesus, just outside Ibiza Town, for August of this year. Casually browsing and seeing that there are quite a few changes to the clubbing schedule afoot, I felt compelled to post again. My thinking is, if I can combine the people and the villa experience of 2011 with the extent to which I was clued up about goings-on on the island in 2009, I'll be onto a big winner. (As you'll see, being clued up in 2009 didn't really help in any way.) When it comes to dance music, most people here seem to know their onions and there are always interesting debates to be had in the run up to a busy season.
Apologies if I ramble on a bit here. This is essentially two vastly differing Ibiza experiences condensed as much as I can manage. Hopefully it provides food for thought for any Ibiza newbies.
------------------------------
2009
The reason I didn't come back to review my 2009 holiday was simply because it didn't quite go to plan and as a result I was very very deflated afterwards. There were 2 main problems. Firstly the core group of people I went with in 2009 were after a very different holiday experience to the one I wanted. I was the only real dance music nut in the group of 7 lads. They were a group of lads specifically after a 'lads holiday' and perfectly happy to stay cocooned in San Antonio.
We returned to the same hotel we had used in 2005 - Hotel Pacific - which to be fair is a straight up, bog standard San Antonio hotel. From the stories I've heard, you could do a lot worse. But when you're with a group of non-clubbing, British males in the centre of San Antonio, the sense of being trapped there while better things go on elsewhere is palpable.
A story I often tell to people is the one where on a Wednesday evening we all had tickets for the Es Paradis water party (a night I already viewed as being a massive compromise on the better nights I would rather have gone to), yet on our way over to the club half the group decided to give up their tickets to return to the Flares on the West End. I sh*t you not!!
The clubbing side of things wasn't a complete disaster. To be fair, Tiesto at Privilege that year was one of my greatest ever clubbing experiences. It was made by the fact that Tiesto was on for so long (maybe about 5 hours) that by the time he hit the last 2 hours he was cranking out some of his best Ibiza trance classics. Tiesto was already switching to house and electro at this point, so to hear the 'old Tiesto' for maybe the last time, particularly in that setting, blew me away. I'm not even as big a fan of the 'old Tiesto' as most trance fans, but something about that was a bit magical.
The other problem with this holiday was probably exacerbated by the 'lads holiday' environment. I already had a slight sore throat on the plane but a combination of poor diet, a crowded hotel and having the air conditioning on constantly meant that by the time Tiesto had been and gone (2 days in) I was feeling rough. By the time Thursday came (night of PvD at Cream Amnesia) I was shaking like a leaf and as sick as a dog. After the insane build up of 8 months this just wasn't what I'd had in mind.
The problem was - after going in 2005 as an 18 year old - I was simply desperate to go back. I was ready to go with anyone. When a group materialized, it didn't matter who I was going with. But when you're one mad dance music fan sharing a living space with people who are quite happy with a skinful of cheap ale and a couple of trips to Es Paradis, it's impossible to seek out the 'real Ibiza'.
There was one night where I went off with one other friend and did my own thing - catching Armin's Armada at Amnesia. But once the pain of illness kicked in, it was too late. The hope of having a holiday that would satisfy my wildly romanticised view of the island just disintegrated. I knew this was mainly my own fault too. I'd wasted time, money and enthusiasm on a trip that was doomed from the moment the plane hit the tarmac. Lesson to all people planning an Ibiza holiday; Know what you want out of the experience, and if you have to compromise too much, question how worthwhile the trip will be.
2011
I said it in my podcast blog when I returned from Ibiza in 2011 - I had so much unfinished business with regards this island when it came to organizing the next trip. But this time, being the Ibiza veteran compared to the people I was going with, I was given free reign to shape the holiday.
I wanted a villa and I didn't want to be living in the middle of San Antonio. And that is exactly what I got. Being in the more remote resort of Port Des Torrent just outside San Antonio, there was still an element of compromise in the sense that San An would have to be our 'starting a night out' base. But you could see straight away that being at arm's length from San An's madness would be good for the sanity. We weren't cocooned anymore.
Our villa was amazing. Large, spacious, furnished beautifully, our own pool, HDD full of films, and quiet too. All for not really that much more than the 400 plus we paid in 2009. I thought to myself, what the feck were we doing at the Hotel Pacific when we could have had this? You pay a bit more in terms of getting around in taxis but it's worth it just to not have to share a pool with a group of fat, tattooed 30 somethings who have not stopped drinking since they pitched up in the departure lounge.
But it was the group that made it - a group made up up largely of my old clubbing mates from Uni and their circle of friends (now my friends also) from London, a group of girls and boys, some of them couples, a mix of nationalities, and most of them trance fans, 12 people altogether. This wasn't a lads holiday anymore. It wasn't even a British holiday.
The trip wasn't without its complications. Before we arrived our group was already 2 people light. One friend became very ill before we flew out, a Sri Lankan friend was refused a visa. I did think the Ibiza curse had struck again.
But once we were there, this was a whole different level of holiday. Lazy days by our own pool - BBQs every night - Armin, Marcus Schulz and Gareth Emery smashing up Space (shockingly only my first visit to Space in 3 trips to Ibiza) - Above & Beyond at Amnesia - meeting Tony McGuinness at the Group Therapy boat party (there were only 80 tickets)...
When we returned, the vast majority of the group instantly said 'get me back there next year!' For 2012, we have a group of 15, with room for 1 more. For the first time, based in Jesus, it will be San An that is a trek across the island. All the parts of the island I most want to explore are opening up to us. So as not to jinx the whole thing, I have no intention of creating wild expectations based on last year - I'm only trying to set things up in a way that acknowledges what worked last time and get us that little bit closer to what I think we need to see.
------------------------------
After all that... So, does anyone here have any opinions of Jesus as a town? Is getting into Ibiza Town relatively easy from there?
Port Des Torrent was a pretty basic little place but at least it was quiet and had some nice little beaches and enclaves. And we could get a taxi pretty easily from the restaurant before the supermarket.
And a friend of mine is hiring a car and she's big into exploring the little beaches and beauty spots. Is there anywhere we should 100% definitely day trip to?
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